'Turn my camera on? Fine': Dedicated employee attends a work meeting from his hospital bed, then gets revenge against a nosy boss by obliging his demand to turn on his webcam

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  • "Turn my camera on? Fine..."

    In 2021 I was working on a project with this manager called Mark who was a real stickler for the rules. He was the kind of dude who wouldn't allow chitchat in his team and loved an office day more than anything, despite the fact that our team was external and all of us lived crazy far away.
  • I've got a chronic disease which, at the time, was kept relatively under control with infusions at the hospital every few weeks. Seeing as Mark didn't want to chitchat, he wasnt aware that I live with this disease.
  • One day I was in the hospital, working from the bed with a cannula in one arm. We had our daily meeting planned and I figured it would be fine to call in without my camera, as they could still hear me just fine, and I didn't want to freak anyone out with the infusion line in the picture and whatnot.
  • I get onto the call and Mark immediately comments that he I can't see my face. I tell him that I've not got my camera on today and don't elaborate, figuring that it's a 15 minute call and I could just as easily be driving or something.
  • Mark responds by asking me to stay back on the call after we finish. I comply, and he chews me out for not turning on my camera, saying that it's a rule that we all need to show our faces. Fine.
  • I turn on my camera and watch his face go from red to white, as he sees me in what is very clearly a hospital room. I tell him I'm uncomfortable being on camera while I'm getting treatment (also not elaborating on what it's for). His sweaty little face still brings me joy.
  • It was a really nice moment to bask in, and I think about it pretty often when I get managers who like rules just a little too much.
  • Jay_Stone The only way that could've been better is if you turned it on in the meeting and caused him to get sweaty face in front of everybody on the call.
  • LadyNorbert Vicariously satisfying. From one chronic illness warrior to another, I salute you for this particularly delicious bit of MC.
  • Courtnall14 I once had an admin tell me I couldn't leave work for dialysis on days that we had faculty meetings. That I'd just have to "skip treatment" on those days. I talked to my Union Rep and that admin member didn't talk to me again until he retired.
  • Anothercraphistorian Any manager who always thinks that everyone on their team is trying to get one over on them needs re-training. These aren't children and you're not Daddy. Trust the people you work with.
  • jezwel I almost never turn my camera on, and there's no way I'd ask my team members to do so unless there was some super specific requirement. You want your privacy, that's fine with me.
  • justaman_097 Well played! Let's hope that he doesn't try that cr p again.
  • davisdilf Attending work meetings from a hospital bed. American work culture is really something
  • Snoo58207 I did the exact same thing while getting a Keytruda infusion. I made sure to get the bag and little pump machine in frame before I turned the camera on.
  • WatermelonArtist I did one of these recently, while in the ER with my daughter. Turns out, the urgent meeting wasn't as urgent as I was led to believe.
  • DrJulianBashir His sweaty little face still brings me joy. This is what "Print Screen" was made for. PrtScrn, then Ctrl+v into MS Paint, save to desktop. Optional: set as wallpaper Super-optional: Set as video call background.

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